Aydid in Baidoa for “reconciliation”

Faction leader Husayn Muhammad Aydid has held meetings with fellow members of the newly established Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) in Baidoa, southern Somalia. The governor of Baidoa, Muhammad Ali Adan Qalinle, told IRIN that Aydid was in Baidoa to “move forward the reconciliation process started in Ethiopia”. The SRRC was formed recently in talks hosted by the Ethiopian government which brought together most of the southern faction leaders opposed to the Transitional National Government (TNG) in Mogadishu.

Qalinle said the meeting in Baidoa, led by Aydid, the current SRRC chairman, was debating the formation of a central committee, which was likely to have over 70 members. Other issues were how to tackle the importation of fake currency into Mogadishu, the “Arta faction” [TNG], and Djibouti’s interference in Somalia’s internal affairs, Qalinle said. The SRRC would have its headquarters in Baidao, and would establish offices in Mogadishu and Garowe. Qalinle said Aydid and other Mogadishu-based faction leaders would remain in Baidoa “as long as they need to”.

The governor confirmed that Aydid had come after the locally-based Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) executive committee had approved the visit. He said two members had opposed the visit initially, but had eventually agreed to welcome Aydid.